Sunil Chhetri's Late Heroics End East Bengal's Playoff Dreams

A thrilling end of the match penalty from Bengaluru FC Captain Sunil Chetri put an end to the playoff hopes of East Bengal FC in a fascinating Indian Super League (ISL) match at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday, March 2. The match ended in a draw 1-1, through which Bengaluru managed to gain one point that settled the fate of the Red and Gold Brigade for the Group Stage round of the competition for the 2024-25 season.

Raphael Messi Bouli, the Cameroonian forward, got East Bengal its first goal in the 11th minute. A creative switch from Saul Crespo caused Bouli to smack a low left-foot shot into the inside bottom corner and send the home fans into raptures. It was against this background that East Bengal showed its intentions by leading so early, but they were later shown the main twist just before halftime as striker Dimitrios Diamantakos was shown the red card during a furious scuffle. Thus, East Bengal played the second half with 10 players.

East Bengal fought like hell to defend themselves from the increasing pressure of Bengaluru despite having a manpower disadvantage. Prabhsukhan Gill kept making spectacular saves, and the last line of defense stood their ground till the 90th minute. An alleged handball by Nishu Kumar in the box gave Bengaluru an unexpected hope, and Chhetri overlooked every one of them. The 40-year-old veteran calmly converted the penalty with Prabhsukhan Gill diving the opposite way and securing an equally crucial point for the Blues.

This leaves East Bengal in eighth place with 28 points from 23 matches, unable now to crack the top six even with a game left. Bengaluru, with 38 points and already booked for the playoffs, are in third place. Chhetri's clutch strike was again a mark of a continuing brilliance, adding to the legacy of the all time highest goal scorer of the ISL. A bitter end for East Bengal is a season of return for fans to hold on to what might have been in a campaign showing much promise but fading away in the final moments.